Transportable machine for butt-welding of rails

ABSTRACT

A transportable machine for the but-welding of rails under field conditions. The machine is provided with a stationary pincer clamp for fixing a first rail to be welded, a movable pincer clamp for fixing another rail to be welded to the first rail, a common axle on which the pincer clamps are mounted, a drive for displacing the movable pincer clamp, a hydraulic cylinder for turning the clamping jaws of the stationary pincer clamp, a hydraulic cylinder for turning the clamping jaws of the movable pincer clamp, at least two profile cutters rigidly secured to the clamping jaws of the movable pincer clamp and having a form contoured to the head and side portions of the rail in cross section, at least one lower cutter mounted on one of the pincer clamps and adapted to reciprocate transversely in relation to the longitudinal axis of the rail, the lower cutter having a cutting edge which coincides with the plane of the rail foot.

United States Patent Inventors Sergei Ivanovieh Fadeev;

Viktor Epifanovich Gora; Arkadyalexeevich Khasin-Dubrovsky, all ofMoscow,

U.S.S.R.

Appl. No. 751,811

Filed Aug. 12, I968 Patented July 27, 1971 Assignee SpetsinlnoeProektno-Tekhnologichesko- Konstruktordroe Bjuro Glavnogo UpravleniaPuti l Sooruzlreny MPS SSSR Mouow, U.S.S.R.

TRANSPORTABLE MACHINE FOR BUTT- WELDING OF RAILS Lytle et a1 PrimaryExaminer.l0hn F. Campbell Assistant Examiner-Robert J. CraigAttorneyWaters, Roditi, Schwartz and N issen ABSTRACT: A transportablemachine for the but-welding of rails under field conditions. The machineis provided with a stationary pincer clamp for fixing a first rail to bewelded, a movable pincer clamp for fixing another rail to be welded tothe first rail, a common axle on which the pincer clamps are mounted, adrive for displacing the movable pincer clamp, a hydraulic cylinder forturning the clamping jaws of the stationary pincer clamp, a hydrauliccylinder for turning the clamping jaws of the movable pincer clamp, atleast two profile cutters rigidly secured to the clamping jaws of themovable pincer clamp and having a form contoured to the head and sideportions of the rail in cross section, at least one lower cutter mountedon one of the pincer clamps and adapted to reciprocate transversely inrelation to the longitudinal axis of the rail, the lower cutter having acutting edge which coincides with the plane of the rail foot PATENTEUJUL2 7 I91:

SHEET 3 OF 3 III/1111111101111.

RQILS The present invention relates to transportable machines for thebutt-welding of workpieces, and more specifically, for thepressure-contact welding of rails, under field conditions.

Known in the prior art are transportable field welders for thebutt-welding of rails comprising movable and stationary pincer clampsfor fixing the rails to be welded, a hydraulic drive for actuating themovable pincer clamp and a device for deburring the butt weld (cf.Inventor's Certificate No. 144714, ofthe USSR. 1962).

In the welder for the pressure-gas welding of rails, the device forcutting off the weld burr consists of two removable members put on therail after completing the welding operation and secured thereon. Theremovable members of the device are equipped with cutters for cuttingoff the weld burr.

This device is positioned between the pincer clamps and performs thecutting of the weld burr by the aid of the cutters of the movable pincerclamp which is moved by hydraulic cylinders.

The butt-welding,machine known heretofore has a number of disadvantages;namely during the operation, it is difficult to mount, connect andremove both members of the cutting device; a rather long period of timeis required for putting the device into operation, during which time thetemperature of the weld burr-considerably decreases, thus involvinggreater forces to be applied for cutting off the burr. All this resultsin a low efficiency of the welding machine.

An object of the present invention is to provide a simple device,reliable and convenient in operation, for cutting off a burr of a buttweld, adapted for mounting on a transportable machine for thebutt-welding of rails under field conditions.

According to this and other objects, the invention provides atransportable machine for the butt-welding of rails under fieldconditions including a device for cutting off the weld burr whichcomprises at least two profile cutters rigidly secured on the clampingjaws of the movable pincer clamp and embracing the head and sideportions of the rail in the cross section, and at least one lower cuttermounted on one of the pincer clamp and adapted to reciprocate in thedirection at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the rail so thatits cutting edge coincides with the plane of the rail foot.

To insure the reciprocating motion of the lower cutter in the transversedirection in relation to the longitudinal axis of the rail, it isadvantageous to employ at least one hydraulic cylinder fixed to one ofthe pincer clamps, the rod of the hydraulic cylinder being connectedtothis cutter.

The hydraulic cylinder for displacing the lower cutter is preferablymounted on one of the clamping jaws of the stationary pincer clamp, thecutting edge of the lower cutter being disposed so that the cutting ofthe weld burr is effected in the transverse direction in relation to thelongitudinal axis of the rail.

The hydraulic cylinder can be mounted on at least one clamping jaw ofthe movable pincer clamp, the rod of the cylinder being connected to thelower cutter, whose cutting edge is disposed so that during the travelof the movable pincer clamp the cutting of the weld burr is effected inthe direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the :rail.

The lower cutter is preferably arranged in guides mounted on the movablepincer clamp by the aid of at least one bracket.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become more fullyapparent to those skilled in the art from a consideration of thefollowing'description to be had in conjunction with the appendeddrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of the transportable machine for the butt-weldingof rails under field conditions, provided with a device for cutting offthe burr of the butt weld, the hydraulic cylinder for displacing thelower cutter being mounted on the stationary pincer clamp;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line H of FIG. I;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the same machine, wherein the hydrauliccylinder for displacing the lower cutter of the mentioned device ismounted on one clamping jaw of the movable pincer clamp;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line Il-II of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 represents the same machine with the hydraulic cylinders fordisplacing the lower cutters of the mentioned device mounted on bothclamping jaws of the movable pincer clamp, a sectional view taken on theline II-II of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of the bottom of FIG. 2, showing thearrangement of the lower and profile cutters of the device for cuttingoff the weld burr onthe clamping jaws.

In the description of the exemplary embodiment of the present invention,a concrete terminology is used for the sake of clarity. However, it isnecessary to remember that the invention is not limited by the terms soadopted, and each of these terms covers all identical elements operatingin a similar way and employed for obtaining the same results.

The transportable machine for the butt-welding of rails under fieldconditions comprises a stationary pincer clamp 1 (FIGS. 1, 2 and 3) forfixing the rail to be welded, a movable pincer clamp 3 for fixing theother rail 4 to be welded, a common axle 5 (FIG. 2) on which theseclamps are mounted, two hydraulic cylinders 6 (FIG. 1) for displacingthe movable pincer clamp 3, and a device 7 for cutting off the burr ofthe butt weld.

The stationary pincer clamp comprises two clamping jaws 8 and 9 (FIG. 2)mounted on the axle 5 and adapted for turning only about this axle whenclamping and releasing the rail being welded. The turning of theclamping jaws 8 and 9 is effected by the hydraulic cylinder 10 mountedon the upper arms of the stationary pincer clamp.

The clamping jaws 8 and 9 can also be turned by other mechanisms, whosedesign is not shown on the drawings.

The movable pincer clamp 3 (FIGS. 4 and 5) is composed of two clampingjaws 11 and 12 mounted on the above-mentioned axle 5 and adapted forturning about it when clamping and releasing the rail 4 being welded,with the possibility of longitudinal movement along said axle during thewelding operation and when cutting off the burr of the butt weld. Theclamping jaws I1 and 12 are turned by a hydraulic cylinder 13 mounted onthe upper arms of the movable pincer clamp 3. The turning of theclamping jaws l1 and 12 can also be performed by any other appropriatemechanism.

According to the invention, the device 7 for cutting off the weld burris composed of two profile cutters l4 and I5 rigidly secured on theclamping jaws 11 and 12 of the movable pincer clamp 3 and a lower cutter16 mounted on one of the pincer clamps l or 3 (FIG. 1) with thepossibility of reciprocating in the transverse direction in relation tothe longitudinal axis of the rail so that its cutting edge coincideswith the plane of the rail foot.

The profile cutters 14 and 15 embrace the head and side portions of therail crosswise.

The reciprocating motion of the lower cutter 16 in the transversedirection in relation to the longitudinal axis of the rail is effectedby at least one hydraulic cylinder 17 whose rod 18 (FIG. 2) is connectedto this cutter.

The device 7 for cutting off the weld burr, according to the invention,may have different variations of mounting of the hydraulic cylinder 17on the pincer clamps 1 and 3 at a fixed position of the profile cuttersl4 and 15 on the movable pincer clamp 3 (FIG. 1).

One version of mounting the hydraulic cylinder 17, moving the lowercutter 16, on the clamping jaw 8 of the stationary pincer clamp l isshown in FIGS. 1 and 2. In this case, the hydraulic cylinder 17 isdisposed in the transverse direction in relation tothe rail axis so thatthe lower cutter 16 secured on the rod 18 and having a cutting edgedisposed longitudinally along the rail performs the cutting of the weldburr from the foot of the welded rails 2 and 4 in the transversedirection in relation to the rail axis.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show another version of mounting the hydraulic cylinder17, displacing the lower cutter 16, on the bodiment, the hydrauliccylinder 17 with its rod 18 connected to the lower cutter 16 is alsoarranged at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the rail, thecutting edge of the lower cutter 16 being disposed in the samedirection. Thus, during the travel of the movable pincer clamp 3 beingdisplaced by the hydraulic cylinder 6 (FIG. 1), the cutting of the weldburr is effected longitudinally along the rail. The lower cutters 16slide in guides 19 (FIG. 3) secured to the movable pincer clamp 3through a bracket 20.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 5 is a particular case of the arrangementspecified above. in this particular embodiment, both clamping jaws 11and 12 are equipped with hydraulic cylinders 17 whose rods are connectedto the lower cutters l6. ln this case, both hydraulic cylinders 17 arelocated in the direction at right angles to the longitudinal axis of therail, the cutting edges of the lower cutters 16 being disposed in thesame direction.

According to the invention, the cutting of the butt weld is effected asfollows. 7

After the welding operation the clamping jaws 11 and 12 of the movablepincer clamp'3 are slightly turned about the axle 5 by the hydrauliccylinder 13 and fixed in this position. In this case, the distancebetween the cross outline of the rails and the cutting edge of theprofile cutters 14 and 15 mounted on the clamping jaws 11 and 12 isequal to the allowance for the weld dressing after cutting off the burr.

Thereupon, the hydraulic cylinders 6 (FIG. 1), displacing the movablepincer clamp 3, are operated, and the movable pincer clamp 3 together,with the profile cutters 14 and 15 mounted on its clamping jaws 11 and12 are made to travel along the rail towards the weld. The profilecutters l4 and 15 move longitudinally along the rail and cut off theweld burr from the head and side surfaces of the rail. When the travelof the cutters as required for cutting off the burr is completed, themovable pincer clamp 3 is returned to the initial position by thehydraulic cylinders 6.

Thereafter, the hydraulic cylinder 17 is operated. During the movementof the rod 18 of the hydraulic cylinder 17, the lower cutter 16 securedon this rod cuts off the weld burr from the rail foot in the transversedirection in relation to the rail axis. When the travel of the cuttersnecessary for cutting off the burr is completed, the rod 18 of thehydraulic cylinder 17 is returned to the initial position.

Thus, the removal of the weld burr is completed.

The cutting of the weld burr in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 iseffected as follows.

When the welding of the rails is completed, the clamping jaws 11 and 12of the movable pincer clamp 3 are slightly turned about the axle 5 bythe hydraulic cylinder 13 and fixed in this position.

At the same time, pressure is applied to the hydraulii: cylinder 17secured to the clamping jaw 11 of the movable clamp 3. The rod 18 of thehydraulic cylinder 17 together with the lower cutter 16 connected tothis rod travels in the transverse direction in relation to the railaxis and moves the cutter to the operating position along the guides 19secured through the bracket 20 to the clamping jaw 11 of the movableclamp 3.

When these preliminary operations are completed, pressure is applied tothe hydraulic cylinders 6 for displacing the movable pincer clamp 3, andthis movable clamp 3 together with the profile cutters l4 and 15 securedon its clamping jaws 11 and 12, and the lower cutter 16 arranged in theguides 19 secured to the clamping jaw 11 through the bracket 20, travelalong the rail towards the weld. During this travel, the profile cutters14 and 15 and the lower cutter 16 cut off the burr of the butt weld overthe whole contour of the rail in the longitudinal direction.

In the embodiment shown in F IG. 5, the cutting of the weld burr iseffected as follows: i

All the preliminary operations are carried out as described above.

burr of the This embodiment is featured by two hydraulic cylinders 17secured on the clamping jaws 11 and 12 of the movable pincer clamp, therods .of the hydraulic cylinders being connected to two lower cutters16. These cutters 16 cut off the weld burr from the rail foot in thedirection parallel to the longitudinal axis of the rail when the movablepincer clamp travels towards the weld.

The cutting of the weld burr with the aid of the proposed device,according to the invention, provides the following advantages:

fixing the cutters directly on the clamping jaws of the pincer clampsenables the cutting of the weld burr to be effected during the finalstage of the welding operation, i.e. at a higher temperature of the weldas compared with the known methods. Consequently, the forces necessaryfor cutting ofithe burr of the weld are much less than in the prior artdevices, and this helps to reduce the weight and overall dimensions ofthe butt-welding machine as well as the time of the operating cycle.

Furthermore, according to the invention, the process of cutting off theburr of the buttweld can easily be automated by means of apparatus thatare not described in the present specification.

All these facts contribute to considerably increasing the cf ficiency ofthe portable machine for the butt-welding of rails under fieldconditions.

Though the present invention is described in connection with a preferredembodiment thereof, it should be understood that additionalmodifications and changes may be made in the construction andarrangement of parts without departing from the idea and scope of theinvention as, will be easily understood by those skilled in the art.Such changes and modifications should be considered as falling withinthe spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What we claim is: r

1. A rail butt-welding transportable machine disposed on a rail underfield conditions, comprising in combination a stationary pincer clampfor. fixing a first rail to be welded, a movable pincer clamp for fixinganother rail to be welded to the first rail, a common axle on which saidpincer clamps are mounted, a drive for displacing the movable pincerclamp, a hydraulic cylinder for turning the clamping jaws of thestationary pincer clamp, a hydraulic cylinder for turning the clampingjaws of the movable pincer clamp, at least two profile cutters rigidlysecured to the clamping jaws of said movable pincer clamp and having aform contoured to the head and side portions of the rail in the crosssection, at least one lower cutter mounted on one of said pincer clampsand adapted to reciprocate transversely in relation to the longitudinalaxis of the rail, said lower cutter having a cutting edge whichcoincides with the plane of the rail foot.

2. A machine according to claim 1, including a further hydrauliccylinder to provide the reciprocating motion for the lower cutter in thetransverse direction in relation to the iongitudinal axis of the rail,said further hydraulic cylinder being secured to one of the pincerclamps, the rod of said hydraulic cylinder being connected to saidcutter.

3. A machine according to claim 1, wherein said further hydrauliccylinder is mounted on one of the clamping jaws of the stationary pincerclamp, the cutting edge of the lower cutter being positioned so that thecutting of the weld burr from the rail foot is made in the transversedirection in relation to the longitudinal axis of the rail.

4. A machine according to claim 1, wherein at least one clamping jaw ofthe movable pincer clamp is equipped with an additional hydrauliccylinder, said additional hydraulic cylinder having a rod connected tothe lower cutter, the cutting edge of said lower cutter being positionedso that the cutting of the weld burr during the travel of the movablepincer clamp is made longitudinally along the rail.

5. A machine, according to claim 4, wherein the lower cutter is arrangedin guides secured on the movable pincer clamp with at least one bracket.

cylinder having a rod connected to the lower cutter, the

cutting edge of said lower cutter being positioned so that the cuttingof the weld burr during the travel of the movable pincer clamp is madelongitudinally along the rail.

8. A machine according to claim 7, wherein the lower cutter is arrangedin guides secured on the movable pincer clamp with at least one bracket.

1. A rail butt-welding Transportable machine disposed on a rail underfield conditions, comprising in combination a stationary pincer clampfor fixing a first rail to be welded, a movable pincer clamp for fixinganother rail to be welded to the first rail, a common axle on which saidpincer clamps are mounted, a drive for displacing the movable pincerclamp, a hydraulic cylinder for turning the clamping jaws of thestationary pincer clamp, a hydraulic cylinder for turning the clampingjaws of the movable pincer clamp, at least two profile cutters rigidlysecured to the clamping jaws of said movable pincer clamp and having aform contoured to the head and side portions of the rail in the crosssection, at least one lower cutter mounted on one of said pincer clampsand adapted to reciprocate transversely in relation to the longitudinalaxis of the rail, said lower cutter having a cutting edge whichcoincides with the plane of the rail foot.
 2. A machine according toclaim 1, including a further hydraulic cylinder to provide thereciprocating motion for the lower cutter in the transverse direction inrelation to the longitudinal axis of the rail, said further hydrauliccylinder being secured to one of the pincer clamps, the rod of saidhydraulic cylinder being connected to said cutter.
 3. A machineaccording to claim 1, wherein said further hydraulic cylinder is mountedon one of the clamping jaws of the stationary pincer clamp, the cuttingedge of the lower cutter being positioned so that the cutting of theweld burr from the rail foot is made in the transverse direction inrelation to the longitudinal axis of the rail.
 4. A machine according toclaim 1, wherein at least one clamping jaw of the movable pincer clampis equipped with an additional hydraulic cylinder, said additionalhydraulic cylinder having a rod connected to the lower cutter, thecutting edge of said lower cutter being positioned so that the cuttingof the weld burr during the travel of the movable pincer clamp is madelongitudinally along the rail.
 5. A machine, according to claim 4,wherein the lower cutter is arranged in guides secured on the movablepincer clamp with at least one bracket.
 6. A machine according to claim2, wherein said further hydraulic cylinder for displacing the lowercutter is mounted on one of the clamping jaws of the stationary pincerclamp, the cutting edge of the lower cutter being positioned so that thecutting of the weld burr from the rail foot is made in an orthogonaldirection to the longitudinal axis of the rail.
 7. A machine accordingto claim 2, wherein at least one clamping jaw of the movable pincerclamp is equipped with an additional hydraulic cylinder, said additionalhydraulic cylinder having a rod connected to the lower cutter, thecutting edge of said lower cutter being positioned so that the cuttingof the weld burr during the travel of the movable pincer clamp is madelongitudinally along the rail.
 8. A machine according to claim 7,wherein the lower cutter is arranged in guides secured on the movablepincer clamp with at least one bracket.